Jaap van der Pol

Larry Oblomov

(26 November 1938 - 23 April 2009, The Netherlands)

Jacob (Jaap) van der Pol was a Dutch collage artist, photographer, painter and illustrator, who is also known under the pen name Larry Oblomov. He was born in Landsmeer, but lived and worked in Edam for most of his life. He studied to become a teacher and was later educated at the Teken Normaalschool, the future Rietveld Academy. He received a Royal grant for the art of painting in 1964 and in 1965.

He has made a couple of comics during the 1960s and 1970s. The first was 'Het Schoolarchief', that was published in Onze Vacatures in 1963-1964. He worked with H. Th. Surendonk on the comic 'Bor Klavir'. It was published in Bèta in 1972, but the publication was cut short by Rijkswaterstaat, the part of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment that is responsible for water management. The organisation was heavily critisized in the comic. Another comic story by Van der Pol and writer J.C. Wendel, called 'Lars Moron', remained unpublished.

A recurring theme in his free art were sailors. From 28 August 2004, Jaap van der Pol sent an almost weekly "artspam" to subscribers. These artistic e-mails contained a photo of a piece of art or a performance with a reflection by Van der Pol. His final artspam was sent from his sickbed on 5 April 2009, containing a drawing from his grandson Finn and a farewell note.

Henk van der Horst and Jan Fillekers made a portrait of the artist for the TV program 'Close-Up', that was broadcasted by the AVRO on 6 March 2010.